The Northwestel 2004 Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships, which will be held in Whitehorse, are just a week away.

More than 200 male and female gymnasts from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C. and the Yukon will be competing at the event, April 16 and 17. More than 100 coaches and officials, as well as about 100 parents, will also attend the event.

'This is by far the largest event the Yukon Gymnastics Association (YGA) has ever hosted,' said Charlene Beauchemin, chair of the host committee, in an interview Thursday. 'We would like to thank all of our sponsors and supporters, especially Northwestel and Lotteries Yukon.'

The Western gymnastics championships are an annual event, held since 1977. Even though Yukon has been taking part for years, the territory has never actually hosted the event. Beauchemin said the YGA approached the four provinces in 2002 about hosting a future championship. Originally, YGA wanted to host the 2003 Westerns, but Beauchemin said the 2004 event ended up being perfect.

'It actually turned out to be great timing, with the 2007 Canada Winter Games coming here,' she said. 'We get to be the first official test event for the 2007 games.'

While the CWG feature both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, the Westerns are artistic only. Male and female athletes are pretty evenly divided, and range in age from nine to 16 years. Six Yukoners will be competing this year, four boys and two girls.

Beauchemin said the opportunity to host such an event is fantastic for a few reasons.

'Our event alone is expected to bring over $250,000 into the economy,' she said. 'And the opportunity to have this level of sport taking place in Whitehorse is so fantastic for people living here.

'Local people are going to see our own athletes competing at this level. They usually have to go outside to compete, so nobody actually sees them.'

YGA president David Porter said it's nice to be able to contribute to the sport of gymnastics, and he hopes this event will be good for the growth of the Polarettes & Polar Tumblers Gymnastics Club.

'It's one thing to see it on TV, but to see this kind of quality of athletes up front can be a real incentive for kids,' he said. 'This is the next thing to nationals, so you're getting the very best from four provinces and the territory.

'The calibre is the best you'll ever see in the Yukon.'

Of course, putting together a high-calibre event is also a lot of work.

'It's hard work, but it's also a lot of fun and there are a lot of rewards too,' said Beauchemin. 'We put together the organizing committee about two years ago. About 150 volunteers are coming out to help us make sure the event runs smoothly. About 50 of those are what we call minor officials.

'Minor officials are kids who volunteer from local schools and they will be doing timing, flash cards and things like that.'

Beauchemin said in addition to the student volunteers, some of the youth from the gymnastics club will be working at the event as well.

'And the pre-competition kids, which are essentially our five and six year olds, are going to be doing a gymnastics demonstration and they're helping out with medal presentations as well,' said Beauchemin. 'We're trying to involve everybody in the organization we can, in some capacity.'

YGA will still be receiving some equipment for the competition on Monday, with the entire venue being set up at Takhini Arena Wednesday afternoon. The first of Outside teams will arrive Wednesday afternoon and the remaining teams will touch down in Whitehorse Thursday afternoon.

Based on last year's results, Beauchemin expects Alberta and B.C. to dominate the competition. In the 2003 team and overall women's competitions, Alberta was first in every event. B.C. was first in every male event. Yukon athletes did pick up several medals though. Chelsea Beauchemin won a gold medal on her floor routine while Shaun Porter picked up two bronze medals on the pommel and the high bar.

'A Yukon athletes has medaled at every single Westerns for the past four years,' said the senior Beauchemin, although competing in front of a home crowd could prove to be nerve-wracking especially for first-time competitors Zoe Zimmerman, Tony Nguyen, Jasper Martin and George Rivard.

'They're excited to be competing at home, but I imagine there's a little bit more pressure as well,' she said. Competing at home is a bit of a double-edged sword isn't it? But I think they'll do well. I have every confidence in them.'

David Porter said he expects the local athletes to claim a few medals, though he admitted the pressure may play a role.

'You can have good days and bad days,' he said. 'You don't want to have a bad day here, but it happens. We do have a small team so it's difficult to compete with the larger teams of about 90 athletes.

'Basically, you tell the kids, you do your best.' They (Alberta and B.C.) have bigger teams, but there are always surprises.'

But Porter said the main goal of the event for YGA isn't necessarily to win medals.

'We want recognition for our athletes, for the hard work they do,' he said. 'They do all this work for three events a year, or four or five, depending on what level you're at. So it's about getting recognition and getting younger kids to start.'

All of the Yukon athletes will be competing in their events Friday morning. The top eight scorers from each event move onto the event finals Saturday afternoon.

Advance tickets for the event are available at the Hougens ticket office or the Polarettes Gymnastics Club in Riverdale. They will also be available at Takhini Arena during the competition. Full two-day passes are $10 for adults and youth 12 and over, $5 for children under 12 and seniors, and $25 for a family of four.

Competition at the Northwestel 2004 Western Canadian Gymnastics Championships begins Friday morning, April 16, and continues through Saturday, April 17.